Two years ago, I had no idea that registering the domain name drinknectar.com at GoDaddy would change my life. While the story still continues to unfold, today I celebrate the second birthday of this social experiment. The last two years has contained many challenges, opportunities for growth, and so many blessings and successes. In the midst of it all, I’m reminded of something I recently read:

“You are exactly who, what, where you are supposed to be and you are lovely.”

Last night I was reading through the ‘happy birthday, year one’ post thinking, “Wholly heck, how in the world did you find the time to write so much content?!” I guess the answer lies in the fact that now I run three businesses (while still managing a full time day job), have had some major personal changes in life, and have really taken the time to enjoy all the moments with friends that I get.

During the first year I wrote 317 blog posts (year 2 saw almost 100). The adage that “content is king” rings very true. As the content decreased, average page views declined from 20,000 per month to just under 10,000. My commitment for 2012 is to get back to what I love doing; creating. While I can’t commit to writing something new every day like I did in 2010, I can get back to video reviews, wine interest stories, and more wine exploration.

Thanks for a great two year run. Here is to kicking off the third year in grand style.

The Content

Below are the top posts for the year and few all time favorites of mine. Clicking through them brings back so many memories. I’m very proud of the interaction on the site (over 3500 comments) and the continued support, surpassing 250,000 page views. Thank you!

#5 – No I Won’t Be Your Friend – A gentle admonishment to businesses using Facebook friend profiles instead of business pages. Includes practical tips to change over.

#4 – The Social Experiment – Nectar Opens to a Packed House – Reliving the success and stress of our opening weekend

#3 – Hello Kindness, Are You There? Wine Tasting Gone Bad – by Benny Hilzinger – Ben shares his not so pleasant experience while wine tasting ‘over the mountains’ in Woodinville

#2 – Five Wine Tasting Tips For Wine Newbies by Benny Hilzinger – some practical tips to remember before going out on your wine tasting adventure

#1 – Five Things NOT to do While Wine Tasting – a humorous look at some actual things that happened at Nectar the first few months of business

All Time Favorites

Leavenworth – Bavarian for Wine? – a recap from my trip to Leavenworth for wine. Great post for those wanting to tour this popular area. Also happens to be the spot for the next Nectar Tasting Room (June 2012)

Restaurant Wine Lists Are Put on Notice – obvious that people are fed up with overpriced, lack of quality and service from many restaurant wine lists. Continues to be a top 10 post.

The Top Value Wines From 2010 – evidence that people are always looking for value. This post recaps my favorite finds from hundreds of wine reviews in 2010.

7 Creative Uses To Recycle Wine Bottles – Most Viewed All Time and still wildly popular. A look at some fun ways to recycle your wine bottles.

The Highlights

2011 started with the opening of Nectar Tasting Room. So many amazing opportunities have been afforded to me, it is difficult to capture them all.

• January – Opening of Nectar
• June – Selected one of the 20 under 40 business people in Spokane
• July – Attended the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference in Virginia.
• September – Announced  that I will be providing video content with national training site lynda.com
• September – Announced partnership with KXLY TV’s Mike Gonzalez to co-host a winery focused TV segment on his show “In the Kitchen” (still in progress)
• October – Nectar Tasting Room featured on MSNBC.com
• November – Issue #2 of Spokane Wine Magazine hits the streets

On the radar: Being featured in a local cookbook of the who’s who in Spokane. Talks are in the works for a weekly wine tip feature on a local radio station. Being featured in Alaska Airlines magazine February 2012 issue of top business people in Spokane.